


partners

by wingdingsphil



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Bullying, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, Homophobia, M/M, bullying tw, homophobia tw, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 03:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17821178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingdingsphil/pseuds/wingdingsphil
Summary: Dan and Phil, mutual enemies, are partnered for a term long project. They finish it in the first week, and discover they have way more in common than they thought.





	partners

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first ever PUBLISHED FIC. wow. i’m sorry this is a bit fast paced, i just normally like to do things fast ksjdks  
> i hope you enjoy. there’s barely any angst, but just a small tw for bullying and homophobia just to be safe:)

“Dan and Phil,” their teacher read off. Phil groaned and Dan froze. “Find a table together, gentlemen.”

Phil laughed. “Miss, there must be a mistake?” 

“No. I clearly wrote here ‘Daniel Howell’ and ‘Philip Lester.’ You two are partners. No further discussion.”

Dan was already sitting grumpily at a desk Phil had to sit at with him for another term. “Alright, Howell,” Phil started, clearly already annoyed. “Before any shit happens, this isn’t going to be an enemies to lovers fanfiction like you probably think it would be. Easy, quick answer: I hate you, you hate me, we just have to get through this project together and then we can distance ourselves forever, okay. There won’t be any ‘Phil didn’t want to admit it, but he wanted to kiss Dan right there,’ or vise versa. Sorry to disappoint.” 

“That was an unnecessary and long lecture you just gave me about not turning this into a fanfic, not like I was planning to. But thanks. I think I got the memo.”

“Good.” Phil turned away from Dan. 

There was no further conversation.

*

“What?” Louise shrieked. “You’re with Phil? What the fuck was your teacher thinking?” 

“Hell if I know,” Dan mumbled. 

“Maybe she sees a bit of potential in a.. relationship,” PJ giggled suggestively. Dan elbowed him. 

“Phil directly said ‘no enemies to lovers fanfiction.’ So by the end of this term there won’t be any damn relationship.”

“Prom is this ter-“ Louise started, but was interrupted. 

“No relationship,” Dan snapped. 

PJ laughed. “So no ‘Dan stared into Phil’s blue eyes, immediately noticing how perfect Phil was. And all he wanted to do was lean in and-‘“

Dan punched him. “Do you actually want to be sent to the fucking hospital? Is that what you want?”

“Defensive,” PJ muttered. Dan raised his fist again. 

“Don’t make me.” PJ raised his arms up in surrender. Dan smirked at his victory.

Surprisingly, nobody brought it up for the rest of lunch.

*

“We’ll finish this at every advisory this week. Then we never have to talk to each other again.” Phil said.

Dan nodded. “That works.”

“Good.”

They had to do a project on the book they studied that trimester, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Write a report on it and create a poster and an alternate ending. So it had a reason to be due at the end of the trimester, seeing as there was so much work to do.

Phil agreed to make the poster while Dan wrote the report and alternate ending. He wasn’t happy he had the majority of the work, but he’d rather get a grade than no grade.

The first advisory, they planned everything out.

The second advisory, they started working. Phil was completely stumped and Dan had to help him come up with ideas.

The third advisory, Dan finished the book report. Phil was still working on the poster.

The fourth advisory, Dan finished the alternate ending. He helped Phil finish the poster. Surprisingly, they had a nice conversation. Turns out they have loads in common.

The final advisory, they didn’t do any work. Instead, they only revised their project and decided it was good. They chatted the whole time and exchanged phone numbers.

“You finished the project.” Louise was not convinced.

“Yeah, and it’s good!” Dan smiled.

“You’re kidding. There is no way you and Phil did a poster, book report, and alternate ending in a week.”

“There is a way. And we did it. Got a problem?” 

“No, no.”

“Good.”

There was an awkward silence. “So,” PJ started. “You guys exchanged phone numbers.”

Louise nearly spat out her drink and Dan dropped his fork. “How’d you know?” Dan spluttered. 

“Little bird told me.”

“Stop with the stupid bird, PJ. How’d you know.” 

“Who else would you be texting in the middle of class?” 

“Literally anyone else?”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I saw the contact name. And you just told me. So I’m right.” He faked a crowd cheering. “Thank you, thank you.” 

“You guys- exchanged numbers?!” Louise was still shocked. 

“Yeah, and?”

“I thought the day would never come.” PJ muttered.

“The fuck you’d just say?” Dan shot up.

“Nothing.”

“It had better have been nothing.” He sat back down and resumed eating.

“What’s up with you being so jumpy and defensive about Phil?” PJ asked.

“I’m not jumpy or defensive about Phil. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

PJ rolled his eyes. “You know very well what I’m talking about.”

“I really don’t, PJ. And I don’t care. What’s up with you wanting to know so much about me and Phil?” Dan snapped.

“There’s my point! You’re super defensive about what’s going on. Sure this isn’t an enemies to love-“

Dan stood up and took a deep breath. “Listen, PJ. I don’t know what you’re trying to imply here, but whatever the fuck it is, it’s bullshit! Phil and I have just started to talk more. The most we’ll ever be is friends. That’s the fucking line. You need to learn that.”

And he left. 

Louise saw Phil watch Dan exit, a look of confusion and slight hurt in his eyes. “You guys had better make up, you know that, right?” Louise finally said.

“We will. After Dan stops being so damn sensitive about Phil.”

“We’ll see when that is,” Louise murmured. “If it’s tomorrow or ten years.”

*

“The Hype is the most underrated song on Trench,” Dan settled.

“No way! You’re forgetting about My Blood. She deserves so much love, and you’re ignoring her,” Phil fought back. “You only paid attention to her when she was a single and you heard ten seconds on an ad.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Please. Bet you know all the lyrics to Chlorine and not The Hype.

“Nope. I know all the lyrics. Do you know all the lyrics to My Blood?”

“Yep, always have.” 

“Sure, I’m so convinced.” Phil rolled his eyes and smiled. 

“You’d better be!” Dan tackled Phil and laughed, tickling him. His phone started ringing, there was a call (probably from PJ) but he could care less. 

“Oh my god,” Phil gasped. “Stop!” He kept giggling.

“Not until you admit The Hype is the superior song on Trench.”

“Okay, okay!”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes! Let me go!” 

Dan stopped. Phil was still laughing, gasping for breath. He looked over to Dan and laughed again. Dan laughed in return. 

Dan was over at Phil’s house, in Phil’s room, and it was about 6:00 in the evening on Friday. Dan didn’t exactly expect to be spending his Friday evening with Phil, but here he was, and he was enjoying it. 

Dan got a call again. “You gonna pick up, or what?” Phil asked. Dan shook his head. “Why not?”

“Don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“If this becomes a chain of you being some existentialist philosopher of something who just keeps asking ‘why’ over and over again, I’m leaving.”

“Aw,” Phil pouted. 

“Elementary school was enough! This is senior year! Haven’t you got a brain?” 

“The point is that it’s senior year, Dan. Think about what you just said.” 

“Oh. Right.”

The continued talking until the sun went down. “I guess I should be heading home, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Phil sounded disappointed. 

“This was really fun, thanks for having me.”

“Anytime.”

*

Dan went to Phil’s house every day that weekend. The week was fine. Then, he repeated the “go to Phil’s” cycle, but this time he fell asleep at Phil’s (cuddling Phil, but Dan nor Phil wants to admit it) on Saturday while they were watching Netflix. Dan longed to be back at that moment forever. He couldn’t stop thinking about it.

And on Wednesday, during fourth period, it hit him. He probably liked Phil more than a friend, and there went the whole ‘no fanfiction’ rule Phil laid down for them. When they were enemies. And now, they’re turning into lovers. At least, Dan is. So far, it’s just enemies to friends. Nothing more. That’s probably how it’s going to stay. 

*

He was immediately attacked by PJ and Louise on Monday. 

“Okay, this is going to sound super creepy but we tried out that FaceTime glitch thing where you can see and hear someone without them picking up,” PJ said extremely fast. 

“So you guys were spying on me.”

“No, okay, we wanted to see if it worked and it did and were you at Phil’s watching Netflix at midnight?!” Louise finished.

Dan went red. “I-“

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring our calls?!” PJ asked. “You’ve been with Phil?”

“Let me-“

“Holy shit,” Louise took a deep breath. “This is- oh my god-“

“It’s not what you think it is! We’re friends, and friends only.”

“Mhm.” PJ nodded slowly and crossed his arms.

“I swear!”

“Tell that to us in two weeks.”

Two weeks.

That was how many weeks until prom.

Oh, fuck.

That means Phil is gonna start talking about who he wants to ask out. It’s going to be anyone but Dan. 

“I’ll meet you guys at lunch.”

*

It was the music teacher’s planning period, and Dan had the room all to himself. He set up one of the keyboards and took a deep breath, cracking his knuckles. Everyone he knew hated when he cracked his knuckles. Luckily, he was alone.

Dan placed his hands in the correct position, and started to play This is Gospel, by Panic! at the Disco. He also had a hidden talent for singing, which no one knew about except Dan. He was way too scared to share it with anyone except himself. 

The finished to hear one person clapping. “That sounded really, really good.” 

Dan looked up, his heart rate increasing rapidly. He saw Phil, leaning on the wall. “How long were you listening?”

“Walked in at the end of the first verse. Disappointed I wasn’t here for more.” He walked up to Dan’s keyboard. “My ears have been blessed,” he said, looking up and putting his hands together. “But I’d love to hear more, goddamn. Wish I was that talented.”

“It- I’m not- that-“

“Alright, Lester. Stop flirting with Howell for a second.” Dan jumped. Another person. This was a concert now. “Why are you in the music room?” she inquired.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you the same question?” Phil said calmly.

“I guess we should all be wondering why we’re in here,” she responded.

“I always come in here, my teacher allows me,” Dan answered. 

“Someone told me Dan was in here,” Phil followed up.

“You’re literally following him around at this point. That’s cute.” Dan finally turned around to see a girl, maybe a junior, sitting on the bleachers in the music room. 

“So? Why are you here?” Phil asked again. 

“Forgot something in first period,” she answered. 

“You seem ten times more suspicious than just that,” Dan said quietly. 

“I always have that vibe.”

“Good talk, we’ll will be leaving.” Phil grabbed Dan’s wrist. 

“You’ll regret leaving. But whatever works.”

Dan didn’t want to know what she meant.

*

It only took 15 minutes later for Dan to realize he shouldn’t have left the music room.

Phil had gone to deliver something for a teacher and Dan was confronted by Phil’s friends in the hallway. “You’re making Phil a faggot, Howell,” one of them spat. 

Dan started shaking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he whimpered. 

“Spending way too much time with him, aren’t you?” the other one said. “Stealing him away from us, when we all know you’re just terrible for him. You’re using him, aren’t you?”

“I- what? No! I’m not doing anything, we’re just hanging out!” Dan cowered near a wall, crouching down while Phil’s ‘friends’ got somehow taller. 

The first one kicked Dan in the stomach. Dan felt tears prick his eyes. “He should be spending all that time with us, instead all he’s doing is wasting his time with you. You’re a fucking mistake,” he snarled.

“And you’re gonna pay for it.”

If Dan wasn’t about to break down, he would’ve responded with ‘wow, did you guys really script this?’ But he was about to, and he didn’t want to make everything worse than it already was.

Insults were shot at him with every blow. Making Dan feel terrible for ever slightly liking Phil. When they finally finished, Dan was shoved into a broom closet, crying. “Phil would be better off without you, Howell.” And the door was shut violently. 

Dan tried to regain his strength and open the door, but it was locked. He crouched down and realized how much he fucked up, how much Phil probably hated him, how we made so many mistakes. Even though he couldn’t list any. 

Dan was locked in there for a while until someone finally freed him. It was PJ and Louise. “Dan!” Louise cried, embracing Dan. “How the hell did you get locked in a broom closet?!”

“And- holy fuck, are you okay?” PJ put his hand on Dan’s shoulder. Dan shook his head. “What happened?” 

“Phil’s friends, they hate me, they hurt me-“

“They hurt you? Physically?!” Louise looked ready to commit a murder. Dan nodded weakly. “What the ever loving fuck is wrong with them?”

“Not them,” Dan corrected. “Me.” 

“Dan, no,” PJ said. He was clearly trying to emphasize with Dan. Louise hugged Dan super tightly.

“No, there’s something wrong with them. I don’t know why Phil considers them as friends.”

Silence for a minute.

“I don’t know either.”

*

“Dan! Are you alright?” Phil worried over the phone. 

“Fine,” Dan said in a monotone voice. 

“Please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Your friends would kill me.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about them. What’s wrong,” Phil demanded to know. 

“Nothing too much.”

“You aren’t yourself. I’m coming over there and you can’t stop me.”

Dan didn’t say anything. In about five minutes, Phil was up in Dan’s room, with Dan hiding under layers of blankets, surrounded by pillows. “Dan?” No response. “You look quite cozy there. Mind if I join you?”

Dan shook his head, but Phil couldn’t see. So he invited himself to join. “I can see why you would stay in here,” Phil started, getting under the covers. “Nice and warm.” 

“Mhm,” Dan said quietly. 

There was shared silence for a while, until Phil finally decided to speak up. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

“They’re not my friends anymore.” 

“Please, Phil. Don’t do that just for me. They’re so much better than me,” Dan sniffled.

“Dan. That’s not true. They’re dickheads and I don’t know why I was their friend for so long. It’s over.” 

“I think you’re lying.”

“Well, I’m not.” 

“I have no proof that you’re telling the truth except your word, and for all I know you’re lying and tomorrow I’m going to be dead.”

“Are you implying I’m going to murder you tomorrow?”

“Precisely.”

Phil giggled. “Why would I?”

“I don’t know, actually. I think I was trying to say something else and my mind went to death. That’s me with most things. What’s 4x - 73 solve for x? Death.”

“I don’t think thats a valid math problem, Dan.” 

“Your mum’s not a valid math problem.” 

“My mum’s a doctor. The other day she told me not to eat VapoRub. Saving lives.”

Dan laughed. “Why the hell would you eat VapoRub?”

“Grandma did it.” 

“Oh my god.” 

Needless to say, Phil coming over definitely improved Dan’s mood. 

*

“Phil’s gonna be in a suit!” Dan said. Louise was trying on prom dresses and PJ and Dan were there to approve or disapprove of her choices. 

“And?” PJ raised an eyebrow. “Was there a point to that statement?”

Dan blushed. “Just reminded myself.”

“Mhm.”

Dan wasn’t really sure why he said that himself. Probably because he was ecstatic to see Phil in a suit on Friday. He was not ready. And surprisingly, Phil hadn’t been talking about any girls. He hadn’t been talking about anyone at all, for that matter. It surprised Dan, he kinda seemed like the guy who would talk about it forever. 

“What do you guys think?” Louise stepped out of the dressing room in a pink dress with pink roses around the waist. 

“Not my favorite, but I like it,” PJ said. Dan nodded in agreement. 

“So I should try another?”

“Yeah,” Dan told her.

She went back out into the store and came back with a red dress. Louise was quickly changed and she was holding a red carnation. “Do you guys like this? The tag called it ‘rebel red carnations.’”

“That’s my favorite,” Dan immediately said. 

“Yeah. That’s a keeper.”

“Thank you!” Louise got changed back into her normal attire and went out to buy the dress. 

“So, Dan, about what you said about Phil in a suit earlier, what was that about?” PJ asked once they were in the car. 

“I don’t really know,” Dan lied.

“You’re excited, aren’t you?” PJ suggested. Dan blushed again. 

“No!” he squeaked. 

“Sure.” Louise rolled her eyes. “Because you talking about Phil all the time is normal.”

“It’s like Katy in Mean Girls! When she talks about Regina and she can’t stop, that doesn’t mean anything!” 

“In Mean Girls, it meant she was becoming a bitch. You aren’t turning into a bitch,” Louise reasoned. 

“Whatever. I tried to make a clever simile.” Dan leaned back in his seat. 

“You like him, don’t you?” PJ suggested, smirking.

“What?!” Dan almost shrieked. “No, no way!”

“So you wouldn’t be upset if I asked him to prom?” Louise asked.

“Don’t- I mean, yeah, I’d- go ahe- wait, no-“ Dan blabbered. Louise and PJ laughed. 

“Oh my god, Dan. It’s okay. I’m not going to ask him out, don’t worry.” 

Dan let out a sigh of relief. 

“Okay, but you gotta admit, your reaction was funny,” PJ laughed. 

“I will throw you out the fucking window.”

“Okay, okay!” PJ raised his arms up in surrender. 

“Hey Dan?” 

“Yeah?”

“If you want to ask Phil out, I’d be happy to help.”

*

Prom night.

Dan had no date, and as far as Dan knew, Phil didn’t either. So there was hope in asking Phil out at prom. But Dan was really fucking anxious for that. In summary, there was no plan that night to do anything with Phil.

Dan, Louise, and PJ arrived at prom. “You gonna ask Phil out?” was the first thing PJ asked when they entered the gym. 

Dan shook his head violently. “No way, oh my god, I don’t even know if he swerves that way.”

“You’ve been friends with him almost all term and you haven’t had that conversation with him yet?” PJ looked genuinely shocked.

“No, not once.”

“Holy shit.”

The night was boring, to say the least. PJ kept trying to persuade Dan to talk to Phil, but he refused every time. Finally, it was a slowdance song and Dan was dragged to Phil against his own will. “Ask him to dance,” Louise whispered, “and we’ll leave you alone for good.”

“But-“

“Go!”

“Hi!” Dan said, a little too loud. 

“Hey! I’ve been wondering where you were all night.”

“I was doing anything but dancing. Or talking for that matter.” Phil laughed. 

“Exactly what I expected of you.” 

“So, uh, I was wondering, if you’d maybe- I don’t know- like-“ Dan sputtered.

Louise poked in from nowhere. “What he’s trying to say, is that he wants to dance with you.” 

Dan let out a breath. Phil looked flabbergasted, and Dan just stood in shock. 

“What! No, no, I was just tryi- that’s not what I mea- I was going to say-“ Dan was cut off by Phil taking Dan’s hands. 

“Of course.” Phil smiled. Dan looked up to Phil and was breathless. His blue eyes sparkled in the lighting and he looked like a goddamn snack in that suit. He grinned and took Dan to the dance floor. Phil twirled Dan in a circle and caught Dan by the waist. Dan was hanging onto Phil by the neck and he smiled a bit. 

The song was reaching its chorus and Dan was still in awe at how amazing the boy in front of him was. At this point, he could tell that everyone was looking at them, gasping and whispering. 

Phil brought Dan closer, and Dan could feel Phil’s breath against his own lips. Their noses were touching, and Dan couldn’t say a word. Dan stared into Phil’s blue eyes, immediately noticing how perfect Phil was. And all he wanted to do was lean in and kiss him. Almost instinctively, they leaned in to kiss at the same time and it felt as if time slowed down the second their lips met. It was just a normal peck, but it lasted for a while until they finally pulled back. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time now,” Phil whispered, going in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed that! hope it made some sense haha  
> kudos are highly appreciated<3  
> thank u for reading this fic  
> goodbye!  
> (by the way, if ur from my twitter, I LOVE YOU.)


End file.
